he
duties of the office to which I have been chosen with the hope
that the beginning of our career, as a Confederacy, may not be
obstructed by hostile opposition to our enjoyment of the
separate existence and independence we have asserted, and which,
with the blessing of Providence, we intend to maintain.

"Our present political position has been achieved in a manner
unprecedented in the history of nations. It illustrates the
American idea that governments rest on the consent of the
governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or
abolish them at will whenever they become destructive of the
ends for which they were established. The declared purpose of
the compact of the Union from which we have withdrawn was to
'establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for
the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity'; and when,
in the judgment of the sovereign States composing this
Confederacy, it has been perverted from the purposes for which
it was ordained, and ceased to answer the ends for which it was
established, a peaceful appeal to the ballot-box declared that,
so far as they are concerned, the Government created by that
compact should cease to exist. In this they merely asserted the
right which the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776,
defined to be 'inalienable.' Of the time and occasion of its
exercise they as sovereigns were the final judges, each for
itself. The impartial and enlightened verdict of mankind will
vindicate the rectitude of our conduct; and He who knows the
hearts of men will judge of the sincerity with which we have
labored to preserve the Government of our fathers in its spirit.

"The right solemnly proclaimed at the birth of the United
States, and which has been solemnly affirmed and reaffirmed in
the Bills of Rights of the States subsequently admitted into the
Union of 1789, undeniably recognizes in the people the power to
resume the authority delegated for the purposes of government.
Thus the sovereign States here represented have proceeded to
form this Confederacy; and it is by abuse of language that their
act has been denominated a revolution. They formed a new
alliance, but within each State its government has remained; so
that the rights of per